The defending national champions, Oklahoma earned the No. 7 national seed in the 2014 NCAA Division I Softball Championship and hosts the Norman Regional this weekend. The four-team, three-day event will feature Texas A&M (35-20, 9-15 SEC) facing Hofstra (33-13, 11-4 CAA) in a first round game at 5 p.m. before Oklahoma takes on Bryant (32-20, 13-3 NEC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. All games will be carried by ESPN3.

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE Oklahoma is making its 21st postseason appearance which is tied for 13th most in NCAA history. In addition, OU owns the sixth-best win percentage and seventh-most wins in postseason history. The Sooners have reached the postseason in each of the past 21 seasons. Only Arizona is currently on a longer active streak.

Opponent

Longest Active Postseason Streaks

Arizona

28

Oklahoma

21

Washington

21

Michigan

20

UCLA

16

La.-Lafayette

16

Oklahoma is 52-17 all-time in Regional play with 12 Regional championship in 19 appearances. OU has won seven straight Regional contests and 12 of its last 13 dating to 2010. In the team’s seven-game win streak, it has outscored opponents 107-15, including a 41-6 margin in a sweep last year.

SERIES HISTORY Oklahoma has met Bryant once before, beating the Bulldogs, 4-1, on March 8, 1992. OU has also faced Hofstra just once, losing to the Pride, 1-0, on March 1, 1996.

With a history dating back to their time together in the Big 12, OU holds a 45-30 all-time record over Texas A&M, including wins in five of the past six games. The teams met last season in the Super Regional in Norman with the Sooners sweeping. OU took the first game 10-2 in six innings thanks to a seven-run sixth inning. Keilani Ricketts struck out 13 and drove in four runs, including the walk-off homer in the sixth. Oklahoma then used another run-rule win to clinch a spot in the World Series. Shelby Pendley homered twice and drove in five runs while Ricketts threw a shutout in an 8-0, five-inning win.

OU AMONG THE HOTTEST TEAMS IN THE COUNTRY Since being swept in a doubleheader at Louisiana-Lafayette on March 15, the Sooners have won 27 of their past 29 games. OU’s winning percentage of .931 in games played after March 15 (through May 11) is tied for the best in the country.

Team

W

L

Pct.

Oklahoma

27

2

.931

Louisiana-Lafayette

22

2

.931

Florida State

26

2

.929

DePaul

25

3

.893

Tulsa

27

4

.871

OU FIRST TEAM TO WIN THREE STRAIGHT BIG 12 TITLES Oklahoma claimed the Big 12 Championship for the third year in a row in 2014. No other team has won three straights in conference history. Previosuly, back-to-back crowns had only happened twice (Oklahoma in ‘99-00 and Texas in ‘02-03).

Oklahoma has now won seven Big 12 regular season titles and four conference tournament championships. The 11 combined championships are the most in league history.

Team

Regular Season Titles

Tournament Titles

Total Titles

Oklahoma

7

4

11

Texas

4

4

8

Nebraska

3

3

6

Missouri

2

2

4

Texas A&M

2

1

3

Baylor

1

0

1

Kansas

0

1

1

GASSO NAMED BIG 12 COACH OF THE YEAR Patty Gasso was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the third year in a row and seventh time overall. No other coach in Big 12 history has more than three.

Coach

Team

Awards

Years

Patty Gasso

Oklahoma

7

'96, '99-00, '09, '12-14

Connie Clark

Texas

3

'02, '06, '10

Jo Evans

Texas A&M

3

'04-05, '08

Ehren Earlywine

Missouri

2

'07, '11

Rhonda Revelle

Nebraska

2

'98, '01

Full list of OU Big 12 award winners:

Name

Award(s)

Patty Gasso

Big 12 Coach of the Year

Georgia Casey

All-Big 12 First Team | All-Big 12 Defensive Team

Whitney Ellis

All-Big 12 Second Team

Destinee Martinez

All-Big 12 Defensive Team

Shelby Pendley

All-Big 12 First Team | All-Big 12 Defensive Team

Kady Self

All-Big 12 First Team

Kelsey Stevens

All-Big 12 First Team | All-Big 12 Defensive Team

Brittany Williams

All-Big 12 First Team | All-Big 12 Defensive Team

BIG 12 FINISH AMONG THE BEST Oklahoma finished 16-2 in Big 12 play, matching the 2008 season for the second-best record in league play in school annals.

Year

Win Pct.

Record

Place

Postseason

2000

.945

17-1

1st

NCAA Champions

2008

.889

16-2

2nd

NCAA Super Regional

2014

.882

16-2

1st

N/A

DON'T RUN ON OKLAHOMA Led by sophomore catcher Whitney Ellis, opponents have just eight stolen bases in 22 attempts. OU has a caught stealing rate of .636, which is by far the best in the country as only two other teams are above .500. In addition, the eight stolen bases allowed is tied for the fewest in the country with Hofstra.

Team

SB Against

Caught Stealing

Opp. SB Attempts

Caught Stealing %

Oklahoma

8

14

22

.636

Hofstra

8

10

18

.556

Mississippi State

15

16

31

.516

Nebraska

24

23

47

.489

USC Upstate

9

8

17

.471

CHAMBERLAIN, PENDLEY MEMBERS OF 50-HR CLUB Lauren Chamberlain and Shelby Pendley are two of seven active student-athletes, and the only juniors, with 50 or more career home runs (through 5/11).

Player

School

Fr.

So.

Jr.

Sr.

Total

Jennifer Gilbert

Ball State

15

18

23

19

75

Lauren Chamberlain

Oklahoma

30

30

8

N/A

68

Haley Outon

Houston

5

22

16

15

58

Kaila Hunt

Alabama

10

21

15

11

57

Shelby Pendley

Oklahoma

19

22

13

N/A

54

Taylor Edwards

Nebraska

18

5

13

17

53

Amber Lutmer

Omaha

11

11

12

17

51

DYNAMIC DUO Lauren Chamberlain and Shelby Pendley have more combined career HR than any other duo in the nation (through 5/11).

Player (Total)

Player (Total)

Team

Total

Lauren Chamberlain (68)

Shelby Pendley (54)

Oklahoma

122

Jennifer Gilbert (75)

Taylor Rager (38)

Ball State

113

Taylor Edwards (53)

Tatum Edwards (46)

Nebraska

99

Kaila Hunt (57)

Jackie Traina (36)

Alabama

93

Elise Fortier (45)

Gabby Luety (43)

Fordham

88

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST Below is a list of all OU’s top-25 rankings in the latest NCAA Statistics (Games through 5/11).

Stat

Player/Team

Total

Rank

Runs/Game

Team

7.15

3rd

Fielding Percentage

Team

.978

4th

Slugging Percentage

Team

.538

6th

Home Runs/Game

Team

1.29

9th

Winning Percentage

Team

.818

9th

Double Plays/Game

Team

0.49

12th

Batting Average

Team

.318

23rd

Saves

Shelby Pendley

4

12th

RBI/Game

Shelby Pendley

1.15

19th

Wins

Kelsey Stevens

33

1st

Shutouts

Kelsey Stevens

8

22nd

Strikeouts

Kelsey Stevens

229

25th

CHAMBERLAIN FIGHTS THROUGH INJURIES Lauren Chamberlain returned against UAB on April 26 after missing 23 games (OU went 19-4 without her) due to a back injury suffered March 13. She hit a two-run double in her first at-bat and finished the weekend by going 2-5 with four runs scored, two RBI, six walks and two stolen bases. She initially returned as the DP, but played the last two games at first base. Chamberlain suffered a knee injury however at Oklahoma State on May 10 and did not play May 11. Coach Gasso is “hopeful” Chamberlain will be available for the NCAA Regionals.

In eight games since her return, Chamberlain is hitting .455 (5-11) with a .769 on-base percentage and 1.091 slugging percentage. She’s scored nine runs and driven in four with a double and two homers. She’s walked 15 times with just three strikeouts and has stolen four bases in four attempts.

SELF GOES DOWN WITH ACL INJURY Sophomore Kady Self had been one of the hottest hitters in the country in recent weeks but a torn ACL against Texas Tech on May 2 ended her season. Self’s numbers in her final 22 games easily trumped her entire career to that point.

Stat

First 45 Games of Career

Past 22 Games

AVG/OBP/SLG

.150/.261/.300

.500/.597/.828

Hits/AB

3/20

29/58

Runs

13

22

2B/3B/HR

0/0/1

4/0/5

RBI

2

19

Total Bases

6

48

Walks/Strikeouts

3/6

14/5

HOME, SWEET HOME The Sooners have won 39 of their past 41 home games. Included in the run is a 16-game winning streak from March 23, 2013 to March 1, 2014, and a 14-game win streak from March 4 to April 17. Those are the fifth and seventh longest home winning streaks in school history, respectively. OU is currently on a 10-game winning streak at Marita Hynes Field.

Home Win Streak

Dates

45

4/14/00-3/29/02

30

3/13/04-4/6/05

25

4/19/06-3/31/07

18

3/21/08-3/4/09

16

3/23/13-3/1/14

15

4/6/96-4/12/97

14

3/4/14-4/17/14

TICKET SALES AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH Oklahoma has enjoyed a considerable home-field advantage this season, going 27-2 at Marita Hynes Field and outscoring opponents 225-51 in those games. In fact, more fans have attended OU home games in 2014 than any other season. To date, 21,374 fans have attended home games. That figure trumps the 13,431 that saw the Sooners play during the 2012 season. The highest turnout came on May 11 when a record 1,728 fans attended the Oklahoma State game.

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